Launch of Caspi Bitum expansion project delayed until May 2025The full launch of the Caspi Bitum expansion project, which will enhance Kazakhstan's largest road bitumen production capacity, has been delayed until May 2025, KazMunayGas (KMG) announced."The completion of work and the full operational launch of the bitumen production plant are planned for May of this year," the press release said, following a visit by KMG CEO Askat Khasenov to the Aktau Bitumen Plant.Initially expected to be completed by the end of 2024, the project has now been rescheduled to early 2025, just ahead of the road construction season.Currently, the installation of critical equipment, including the T-1102 vacuum distillation column, has been completed. Work on pipelines, electrical systems, and automation equipment is near completion, with hydraulic tests underway on the installed pipelines. Following these steps, equipment commissioning and startup operations will take place.Caspi Bitum LLP, a joint venture between KazMunayGas and CITIC Kazakhstan, was established to address domestic bitumen needs. The Aktau plant, operational since December 2013, processes oil from the Karazhanbasmunai JSC fields.The expansion, agreed upon during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to China in October 2023, will boost production capacity from 500,000 to 750,000 tonnes annually. It involves processing high-viscosity oil from the Karazhanbas field, increasing production from 1 million to 1.5 million tonnes per year.In January 2024, KMG signed an agreement with KazAvtoZhol to ensure a stable supply of road bitumen. Other producers in Kazakhstan, including the Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant and two private factories, collectively produce around 1 million tonnes of road bitumen annually. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX